Recent developments in the car rental market include business models to facilitate personal car rental activity known as car sharing between private individuals, for example, a car owner providing the vehicle to a user who needs the car for a specified period of time. Other developments include car sharing models used by commercial rental and leasing companies. Customers that patronize a car sharing network typically includes those customers that may have an “occasional” need for a vehicle but do not own a vehicle and those customers who own a vehicle but would like to have use of a vehicle of a different type such as for a special event, occasion, or circumstance.
Existing car sharing networks are prolific and include businesses such as Autolib′, City Car Club, Greenwheels, JustShareIt, Stadtmobil, GoCar, Zoom, OpenFleet, and Zipcar. Likewise, traditional car rental companies such as Hertz, Avis, Enterprise, and U-Haul rent and share vehicles. There are also cooperatives operating car share services where a club, company, or group of individuals owns the vehicle to be shared.
One challenge with current car sharing networks is that a host system, typically based on a communications network, is charged with providing an exact and repeatedly used “pickup” location for a vehicle to be shared such as at a vehicle parking spot in a designated parking area. One issue with this approach is that patrons don't always bring the vehicle back to the exact same location and the designated locations may not always be available when the renter returns. Authorized access to a shared vehicle is typically accomplished through provision of a “keyless” car entry code to access the vehicle where the key is left somewhere inside the vehicle. In some current models, a third party receptionist may be required to pick up and drop off keys for shared vehicles so as not to have them left in the vehicle when it is unattended.
Furthermore, many car share models are challenged by the occurrence of “unscheduled events” such as vehicle accidents or maintenance problems or when a prior renter does not return the vehicle on time that may make a vehicle scheduled for sharing suddenly unavailable. Limits to service are also evident such as facilitating multiple car renters (more than one) to “share” a specific rental contract where the vehicle is shared amongst them during portions of the entire rental period.
Therefore, what is clearly needed in the art is a vehicle sharing system that overcomes the problems mentioned above and that provides services that current models do not include.